Has anyone used Tribike Transport…any comments?
or
Has anyone used In-side- out sports…comments?
OUTSTANDING!
I used Marc’s service to transport my bike to IMAZ. Never had to dissemble/assemble bike (huge for me cuz I’m a mechanic moron). Pickup and dropoff at local bike shop. They delivered the bike a few yards from the transition area. Right after the race, walked my bike back to Marc’s truck. Couldn’t have been more convenient.
Relieved me of a lot of stress and hassle (bike case, airport check in etc). I’d recommend transporting a bag of gear as well.
I highly recommend Marc’s transport service and plan on using it for my next IM.
I did Inside out sports and it worked great. A friend did tri-bike transport and he said it turned out great. I wanted to do tri-bike transport, but by the time I found out about it the Florida truck was full.
With these 2 options I do not know why anyone flys with their bike.
I did Inside out sports and it worked great. A friend did tri-bike transport and he said it turned out great. I wanted to do tri-bike transport, but by the time I found out about it the Florida truck was full.
With these 2 options I do not know why anyone flys with their bike.
Perhaps it’s because of cost. I would love to use one of these services but not sure I can afford it. Southwest charges $50 one way for bike transport. Are these services in that range? (Note: I’m not being sarcastic as I don’t know the cost of these services. Just truly wondering.)
Our introductory rate is currently $175 for the bike or $195 for the bike plus optional bag for gear (for wetsuit, shoes, helmet, etc…).
$50 each way + having to break the bike down (or pay someone to do it), having to rent bigger car capable of holding the bike box. Lugging the bike through the airrport and dealing with security opening up your bike case.
If you are going to do the labor of breaking down and building your bike back up you can carry the bike on the airplane for the $50 each way that you mentioned. For that price you can UPS your bike to the hotel that you are staying in.
All kinds of options. I think that shiping the bike is competitive price wise but with much lower stress.
The one advantage of bringing the bike on the plane is that you can ride it right up until you leave. This can be muted if you have a 2nd bike. After I shipped my bike I did the rest of my rides (in my taper period) on my mountain bike. If I did not have 2nd bike I could have used the stationary bikes at the gym when I went to swim.
I used TriBike Transport last year to CDA and they did a great job. I would use again and recomend to anybody. Only problem we had was we went to the wrong La Quinta and couldn’t find the big yellow truck. But I can’t blame them for not reading the map they gave me.
Dave
$50 each way + having to break the bike down (or pay someone to do it), having to rent bigger car capable of holding the bike box. Lugging the bike through the airrport and dealing with security opening up your bike case.
If you are going to do the labor of breaking down and building your bike back up you can carry the bike on the airplane for the $50 each way that you mentioned. For that price you can UPS your bike to the hotel that you are staying in.
All kinds of options. I think that shipping the bike is competitive price wise but with much lower stress.
I have to disagree with you on this one. Did you read my post last week? http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=382972;search_string=search_string;#382972 If you are going to “fly your bike”, I would not ship it with UPS, FedEx or anyone else. Check it on the plane. That way, it’s only “handled” at departure and arrival. You should read the entire thread I gave you above – you will see that most people more experienced than I receommend against shipping you bike.
When I did Lake Placid in 2004 they lost ALL of my checked luggage until the Tuesday after the race. I was glad that I carried on a bag with my wetsuit, racing clothes, running shoes etc. My bike was safe too at Placid planet bike shop. I had shipped it up there and tracked it the whole time due to the modern day convienence of tracking #'s and the internet. If I had checked my bike I would have been SOL.
BTW the day before the race was my wedding anniversary. It was not quite as romantic as hoped due to wife being bitchey about not having clothes to change into. Also that was my last wedding anniversary, but not for that reason.
Also another airline story. In 1997 I was hit by a car 3 weeks before the Hawaii Ironman and did the race on a friends bike because mine had been totalled. Coming back from the race, they did not have my bike on the flight. We had to get it the next day. This had me very stressed because I was scared I would have to buy my friend a new bike.
I guess things go wrong with shipping and with the airlines. You take a chance with anyone unless you physically drive it there yourself.